Windhoek, 28/09/2013
- The eleventh session of the Conference
of the Parties to the UN Convention to
Combat Desertification (COP11) ended Saturday
morning in Windhoek, Namibia, with several
major breakthroughs.
The Science Policy Interface
(SPI), a mechanism that scientists have
long called for to enable them to communicate
scientific findings to policy-makers, was
established.
The SPI's functions
are often compared to the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change or the
Intergovernmental Platform
on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services,
but it will be structured differently.
Parties confirmed the
value and future of the UNCCD Scientific
Conferences, after holding the first two
conferences as "special sessions."
To fast-track the start
of the third Conference, which will be held
in early 2015, the Republic of Korea contributed
USD100,000, as part of the 2013 Changwon
Initiative implementation plan.
The Parties agreed to
set up an Intergovernmental Working Group
on the follow-up to the outcomes of the
UN Conference on Sustainable Development
(Rio +20), with three key tasks: to identify
a science-based definition of land-degradation
neutrality in the drylands; to develop options
that parties may
consider to strive to
achieve land-degradation neutrality; and
to advise the Convention on their implications
for its current and future strategy and
programmes.
"By all accounts
COP11 is a resounding success and has lived
up to its motto: 'A stronger UNCCD for a
land-degradation neutral world'," said
Luc Gnacadja, outgoing Executive Secretary
of the UNCCD.
The COP "has taken
concrete steps to make the UNCCD the global
authority on science relating to desertification,
land degradation and drought? we have moved
away from a focus on process towards
real substance,"
Gnacadja said.
COP11 President Uahekua
Herunga, Minister of Environment and Tourism
of Namibia, said "COP11 has indeed
strengthened the UNCCD as an agent of sustainable
development," and applauded Parties
for moving towards the establishment of
a science policy interface.
Following institutional
reforms undertaken at COP10 that consolidated
the management of the Convention's Global
Mechanism and secretariat, COP11 decided
to co-locate the two in Bonn, Germany, with
a liaison office in Rome, Italy.
COP11 President Herunga
issued the "Namib Declaration on a
stronger United Nations Convention to Combat
Desertification for a land degradation neutral
world," which calls on stakeholders
to commit to enhance sustainable land management
and improve livelihoods at all levels.
He stated "the
commitment of the Namibian Government, through
its Presidency and Declaration during and
beyond this two year period, to continue
strengthening the implementation and on-ground
impacts of this Convention."
The Declaration outlines
action to: strengthen UNCCD leadership for
The Future We Want; address drought mitigation
as a matter of priority; advance the science-policy
interface; focus on local communities; engage
with the private sector; and to empower
women.
"Important decisions
were taken at COP11 that will have positive
impacts going forward," Gnacadja said,
also citing: the alignment of the national
action programmes with the 10-Year Strategy;
adjustments to be made
on how Parties report progress under the
Performance Review and Assessment of Implementation
System; and communication and awareness
raising.
"We captured Namibia's
spirit and tradition of participation,"
he said, noting that "Namibians got
to interact with the delegates in a much
greater way than has happened in past conferences,
through events such as Gender Day, the SLM
Business Forum, the Roundtable of Parliamentarians,
the Film
Festival, side events
and the exhibition, excursions and media
coverage."
COP11 approved a two-year
core budget of EUR16.1 million, a zero nominal
budget. The Global
Environment Facility
was invited to increase its support to the
land focal area and take coordinated action
at all levels to monitor land degradation
and restoration of degraded lands in the
drylands.
A two-day High-Level
Ministerial segment held during the session
expressed interest in the pursuit of a land-degradation
neutral world, the importance of best practices
and the economics of desertification, land
degradation and drought and sustainable
land management, among other issues.
During the session,
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also announced
the appointment of Ms. Monique
Barbut of France as
the new UNCCD Executive Secretary. Mr. Gnacadja's
six-year term ends September
2013.
Over 3000 delegates,
including 45 ministerial participants, attended
the two-week COP.
The next COP will be
held in Turkey in 2015.
